Spark plug display and dispensing cabinet



Oct. 17, 1944. P. R. MENA 2,360,573

SPARK PLUGDISPLAY AND DISPENSING CABINET Filed March 51, 1941 2sheets-sheet 1 FIGA..

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0t.17,1944. Y BR MEA r 2,360,573

SPARK PLUG DISPLAY-AND DIsPENsING CABINET Filed Maren rsi.'v 1941 2sheets-sheet 2 INVENTOR.

Paul H .Mana

A'Tr'oRNEYs.

Patented Oct. 17, 1944 SPARK PLUG DISPLAY AND DISPENSING CABINET Paul R.Mena, Reading, Pa., assigner to BowersN lattery Mfg. Co., Inc., Reading,Pa., a corporation Application March 31, 1941, Serial No. 386,172

(Cl. S12-42) 2 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in artic leA display anddispensing cabinets.

The primary object of this invention is the-provision of a cabinetadapted for the display and dispensing of articles, such as spark plugs.

A further object of this invention is the nrovision of a display anddispensing cabinet adapted for the display and dispensing of an articlesuch as aspark plug, and adapted to receive in separate columnsdifferent types of spark plugs; the cabinet having associated therewitha chart which willr enable the proper selection of the article or sparkplug.

Other objects and advantages. of this invention will be apparent duringthe course of the following detailedV description.

In the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, andwherein similar reference characters designate correspondingv partsthroughout the several views,

Figure 1 is a front elevation of the improved article display anddispensing cabinet.

Figure 2 is a rear View of the cabinetwith the closure opened.

Figure 3 is a vertical cross sectional ViewVV taken through the cabinetsubstantially on the line 3 3 of Figure 1.

Figure 4 is a horizontal' crosssectional view taken through the displaycabinet substantially o n the line I--ll of Figure 3.

Figure 5 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view showing the manner inwhich an article selecting chart is supported and associated with thecabinet.

Figure 6 is a perspective View of the article selecting chart.

In the drawings, wherein for the purpose of illustration is shown only apreferred embodiment of the invention, the letter-A may generallydesignate the improved articleY display and dispensing cabinet. It mayinclude a base construction B; side walls C and D; a front display wallconstruction E; a top construction F, and a rear-closure G.

The base is preferably formed of stamped sheet metal, including a topwall I5, land depending iront, rear and side walls I6 connected convexlywith the Ytop wall by striking the base into such shape upon a suitabledie. At the bottom corners of the base suitableV gusset pieces il arespot welded upon the front. rear and side walls and receive thereonsuitableanti-scratch supporting feet` i8, suchasA shown inl Figure 3.

The side walls C and Df are of identical construction. They are iormedYof stamped sheet metal. At the lower ends they. are inwardly flanged at2G; the flanges 20 being preferably spot welded upon the top wall l5 ofthebaseconstruc-V tion B. At itsv rearedge, each side wall C and D, ispreferably doubled upon itself at 2|, shown in Figures 3 and 4 of thedrawings, to furnish a noncutting edge. Glass panel retaining flanges 22are provided along thefront' edges of the side Walls C and D, in rightangled relation therewith, extendingY from thel top ends, of thesi'dewalls to points short of the lower edgesthereof.

Referring at the present time tothe front of the cabinet,L-shaped-retaining pieces 30 are spot welded or otherwise secured on theinner, surfaces of the side walls C and D, as shown in Figure 4 of thedrawings, providing flanges in spaceparallel relation with the glasspanelretaining anges 22 of the side-walls; the glass panel13| beingadapted to be slipped'into position betweenthese anges. At its lower`edge the window or glass panel 3| is supported upon a metallic retainingpiece 33, which is spot welded'V in position upon the ange portions 22vof the side walfls; extend'-I ing across the entire front ofv thecabinet and spaced above the base B, to define.' a mouth 4|) throughwhich the articles: may be dispensed. This retaining piece 33`islprovided'witha retaining flange 33a positioned atan acute angle.y to thevertical, and extending intov the mouth 4U so as' to engage the secondarticle in each column, to preventthe removal of that article throughythe mouthV until the lowermost article has been dis:

pensed, as can be noted fromFigure 3V of the drawings; i f

Referring to the top constructionV F; the-sainel includes a horizontallypositionedwall 45 having end flanges 46 which arespot weldedtothe-'inside of the side walls B and C, as shown in Figure 3 of thedrawings. A= convexly arcuate top-45|- is provided, having a rightang-led iiange 5l)V spot welded beneath the wall 451 The top 4l overliessui-table convex anges 52 provided-wright angled relation upon thesidewalls C `and-Dand to which it may be spot` welded. At itstop frontedge'the wal-1 41 has. an integral channel shaped depending portionadaptedto beused for supporting the chart 6|.

adapted to extendtherwidthv of` the cabinet. `vIt* has a retainingstripI 'H2 bent kdownwardly therefrom at its top edge, and'to the-rear,adapted to t' in the groove of the channelf for supporting the chart atthe front of. theY ohannelin depending relation, rearwardlyof theglasswall 3|, asis shown in Figure' 3 ofythey drawings. to be noted thatthe front edge of the horizontal top wall! portion `45v terminates'short of thel front wa'llj construction ot the cabinet in'order topermit theY chart 6| to be slipped into position behind the glass panelwall 3| to a position below the The channel- Gil consists of the rightangle depending portion 60a; bight portion 60h Itis uppermost of thearticles packed in columns in the cabinet, as shown in Figure 3.

I have provided an inverted U-shaped retaining strip B0, shown best inFigure 5 of the drawings, which forms the border strip at the top frontof the cabinet. It includes the portion 80a adapted to be slipped intothe groove of the channel 60 rearwardly of the supporting strip portion1| of the chart 6I, as shown in Figure 5; the top wall portion 80hadapted to lie contiguous with the adjacent portion of the wall 41 ofthe cabinet, and the depending finishing strip 80e adapted tooverlie'the front of the glass panel 3|, along the top edge of thelatter. The retaining channel 80 may be removable, so that the chart 6|may be removed and another chart substituted therefor, from time totime, as desired.

The rear closure G is of sheet metal, (as are all the other portions ofthe cabinet except the glass panel, the chart and supporting feet) thetop, bottom and side edges being doubled inwardly to properly finish theedges of the closure. The closure extends from side wall C to side wallD, and in height it extends from the bottom wall l5 of the base to apoint immediately above the wall construction 45 at the top of thecabinet. It is hinged at 9D to the side wall D, and at its free edge isprovided with a suitable latch 9|, pivoted by means of a handle 92, andadapted to engage in a suitable' lock flange provided upon the wall C,as shown in Figures 2 and 4 of the drawings.

Vertically disposed walls are provided in the compartment of thecabinet, partitioning the cabinet into vertical magazine compartmentsadapted to receive the articles H in stacked relation. These walls |00are relatively narrow, as shown in Figure 4 of the drawings, and theirupper and lower ends are flanged in right angle relation and suitablyspot Welded to the bottom wall I and the top wall 45.

Each of the compartments'in the cabinet is of a width of one of thearticles H, J'ust sufficient to permit the articles H to move freely upand down in the compartments and maintain them in an orderly relation.

Upon the base B there is disposed a stationary ejecting or dispensingmember H0, preferably consisting of a downwardly and forwardly slopingwall upon which the rear lower corners of the articles H engages inorder to move them forwardly through the mouth 40, as the lowermostarticle of a stack is grasped and pulled from the stack. The dispensingor ejecting member ||U is forwardly concaved to permit the ready slidingof the article H. It is to be noted that the top marginal portion of themember lll! extends beyond the plane of the rear surfaces of the stackedarticles H. The member I0 has a flange portion I|2 spot welded orotherwise secured upon the wall I5 of the base B. It is to be noted thatthe dispensing member ||0 forms no part of any front or rear wallconstruction of the cabinet, and it is fully visible and accessible uponopening of the rear closure of the cabinet.

Referring to the use of the cabinet for the purpose of dispensing sparkplugs or articles which are similarly packed, the top portion 10a, ofthe wall 1U of the chart 6| may be provided with the name of themanufacturer, or this portion of the chart may be blank and the glasspanel 3| from its upper edge to a point in the plane of the wall 45 maybe suitably provided with the name yadvertisement or delineationthereon.

of the manufacturer and the name of the articles to be dispensed. Thelatter is the arrangement shown in the drawings; the glass panel 3|being opaque down to the line ||5 shown in Figure 1 of the drawings, andprovided with any approved Otherwise the glass wall 3| is transparent,and the front surface of the lower portion 10b of the chart is visibletherethrough. This wall 10b of the chart is preferably provided withlistings of cars, as shown at |20 in Figure 6 of the drawings, in casethe articles to be dispensed are spark plugs, and under each car theremay be listed the different models of cars and indicia |2I, designatedon the chart which corresponds with a like marking or delineation |22upon one or more of the packages of the article H facing the front wall.All spark plu-gs of the same size and type may be maintained in the samecolumn. Thus, for example, in the illustration, a certain model of Buickcar is designated 7B-H, and if it is desired to select a spark plug forthat model, the user of the cabinet merely pulls the article H out ofthe mouth 4|) of the cabinet which has a corresponding designation 7S-Hthereon. The articles of the stack will always drop into the positionshown in Figure 3 of the drawings and and the lowermost article H willbe ejected a short distance to permit an operator to grasp the same andreadily. remove the article from the cabinet.

It is of course, understood that this improved cabinet may be used fordispensing articles other than spark plugs.

Various changes in the shape, size, and arrangement of parts may be madeto the form of invention herein shown and described, without departingfrom the spirit of the invention and the scope of the claims.

I claim:

l. In an article display and dispensing cabinet the combination of ametal base, metal side walls, a front wall comprising a transparentpanel therein terminating short of the base to provide i' in spacedrelation with the bottom edge thereof and the base an article extractingmouth, a rear wall movable closure to permit the placement of articlesinto the cabinet in stacked relation, and a metal piece having a atportion secured upon the base along the rear margin thereof andextending upwardly in concaved sloping relation from a point spaced fromthe rear wall closure to a point at the rear wall closure to dene aslide along which the lower portions of the articles will engage whilemoving them slightly at their front ends thru the opening in the frontwall.

2. In an article display and dispensing cabinet, the combination of ametal base, metal side walls, a front wall formed to provide an articleextracting mouth, a metal rear wall comprising a movable closure whichopens the entire cabinet in the space between the :base and top wall, aone piece metal member secured upon the base along the rear marginthereof and having a portion extending in upwardly sloping relation awayfrom and in facing relation with the article extracting mouth anddisposed in close relation to the closure at the rear of the cabinet,and partition means secured to the top and bottom walls of the cabinetand disposed entirely forwardly of said sloping member.

PAUL R. MENA.

